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Careful RGA...

Posted by Budrew (A) on July 17, 2005 at 15:37:03

In Reply to: REVIEW: Audio Note OTO Phono SE Integrated Amplifier (Tube) posted by RGA on July 17, 2005 at 13:19:14:

Peter may hire you to write his ad copy (should he actually ever feel compelled to advertise). Nice review, with a compelling big picture view rather than the sometimes less interesting play-by-play.

Like you I've been surprised at just what the Audio Note gear can do, or rather just how musical it is and thusly how unmusical other components can be. I've also learned that an all-Audio Note system is far more than the sum of its parts. One specific thing I've noticed is what it does with the piano. Through many systems the piano can lose its percussive feel; it sounds like a piano but it does not have the impact that a live piano performance does have. With the Audio Note I get that impact. And emotion too. I'm not much into Rachmaninov (sp?) yet, but I just purchased an album with a couple of his pieces along with some other music, and the power and dynamics of the performance really comes through (call it slam), and the beauty and lighter nature of the other pieces and composers comes through as well. Song to song you really get the character of the piece and the performance.

Since you comment on the speakers too I'll agree with your opinion about their openness. I have the E/Spe's and over time they've come to remind me of the Duevel Bella Lunas I had in for a demo for a few weeks. The Duevels are omni-directional and sound extremely open by nature. The AN's don't go that far, but they clearly on not boxy! (The Duevels are very, very nice but require careful placement that I was unable to accomodate.)

I've not had as much luck as you with rock music. Through my system it sometimes comes across as thin and hollow, like a transistor radio, mostly on complex, dense music. I attribute some of this to the mastering process because it can vary from album to album and song to song. The Audio Note is simply being honest about what's there. That and the 300B tube (I have the Meishu) which is more delicate sounding than other tubes (a P2SE I had had more grunt). I've been told the 2A3 would be more incisive though via Audio Note that's an expensive proposition.

I recommend you save up next for the Audio Note CDT2 II transport. Simply amazing!

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Schiit Audio

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